Soul of Freeman. 3rd Book of the Freeman Series.

Chapter 8

"Who's doing the dishes?" Allie spoke toward the living room while wiping the dining room table."Ev-v-v-rybody loves loves loves bootay," Daniel sang into a microphone while dancing in front of the television.

"Oohoo yeah, bootay," Andrew did the vocals while he stared into his phone screen.

"What in the world?" Their mother went into the living room and glanced at the television set.

On top of the karaoke lyrics, a man in a fur jacket pointed at a girl with a big rear end.

"Daniel, this song is completely inappropriate." She grabbed the remote and paused the karaoke machine.

"No, Mom, this is the last song before I can unlock all of GayZeela's album."

"Why can't you choose a song about love instead of butts?"

"GayZeela says love is an illusion," said Andrew.

"Gayzilla sounds like a loser. He doesn't know what love is."

"But you don't even know how you feel about Dad." The boy continued staring at his phone. "How could you tell if GayZeela is right? He's won Grammys, you know."

Allie wanted to be angry at her son, but she instead analyzed his reasoning. He was obviously hurting, seeing his parents separated. All he and his brother needed was to spend more time with their mother and father and less time with GayZeela.

Three soft knocks took her out of her thoughts. She stepped in front of the old window behind the TV and peaked under the chevron pattern curtains.

She saw part of Dean's body. He seemed groomed although there was still a desperate look in his face. His bare chin and his jeans made him look younger. She hadn't seen him wear casual clothes in a while.

"Hi," she opened the door, sucking on her own lips to hide her smile.

"Hi, I'm Dean Freeman," Dean grinned and straightened his arm in front of him.

Allie's cheeks and forehead became more pronounced. She stared at his hand then accepted his greeting with a slow handshake.

"I know?" she replied.

"I'm from the apartment complex welcoming committee. So, welcome." He made a small bow and reached for a small basket of household essentials goodies by his side.

"Is this for me?" Allie had no choice but to chuckle at the over sized red bow on it.

"Do you like it?"

"Hand soap, lemon squeezer, scented candle. It's great. But, joke aside, why are you doing this?"

"It's what you do when you meet a pretty lady for the first time." He shoved his hands in his pockets and relaxed his shoulders.

Allie hugged the basket on her stomach, looking for words to say. She understood. He wanted to start all over but she questioned if that could be possible. Then her heartbeat raised at a white and yellow animal approaching Dean's leg.

She only had time to gasp.

Dean followed her gaze and kneeled down.

"How rude of me. I forgot to introduce my friend. This is Egg. I know he looks big but he's just a puppy." He caressed the fur-ball's back.

Allie placed the basket on the dining table and began scratching the dog's head. The puppy seemed to like it as he lied down on his back and let the humans give him some well-deserved love.

"Egg, I'd like you to meet..." Dean frowned at Allie. "Sorry, you never told me your name."

"Allie. Allie Freeman," she rolled her eyes with a smile.

"Hey, whadda ya know? We have the same last name. That must must mean something."

Allie snickered and played along.

"Really? Maybe it means we're blood related."

"Na, I'm sure we're not related," he smacked his lips.

"How do you know?"

"Because those beautiful red lips and those mesmerizing eyes don't run in the family."

Allie forced herself to look away. She let her locks fall over her face as the pores on her back awakened every hair follicle. Her breasts hardened as her arms covered her front side.

"Andrew, Dad brought a puppy!" Daniel's jaw dropped.

They heard stomping and Andrew's head popped out of the apartment.

"Oh.My.God! We're keeping him, right?" Andrew dropped to his knees and buried his face in the white and yellow fur.

"He'll stay in our house in the meantime. He's not potty trained."

"Dad, you're the best," Daniel jumped on Dean, making him wobble. "Are you staying for dinner? Say yes and we can sing GayZeela's songs together."

The boy looked back at his brother and winked.

"Better, let's play monopoly," nodded Andrew.

"Only if Mom agrees," Dean stared at Allie, whose cheeks were still bright red.

She bobbed her head and brushed her hair a couple times before saying a soft yes.

"So, what's GayZeela?" Dean stood up and began walking behind Allie.

***

Allie held a thick roll of monopoly money as she zoned out while watching Dean make his next move. They sat on opposite sides of the game board in the middle of the living room floor.

 Seeing him smile with his children was bittersweet. It didn't make her feel good to have the boys be apart from him. Was she breaking up her family? But she couldn't live with a man who betrayed her.

 Throughout the afternoon, her brain continued to battle itself.

 "Mom," she heard a distant voice.

 "Huh?"

 "You're playing the secret strategy," Dean gave her directions, knowing she'd been lost in her mind.

 She looked down at the paper strips and picked up a card from the deck when Egg started barking at the front door.

 "What is it, boy? Did you find a bug?" Allie found that as an opportunity to get up and try to remember her game strategy.

 "Maybe he wants to pee," said Andrew.

 Egg was now showing his large teeth at the wooden frame.

 "Dogs don't growl when they need to pee. Maybe it's a squirrel." Dean left the game board and tried to calm Egg down. "There's nothing there, Egg. Leave it."

 Egg barked then moved away from the door. Dean looked through the window, but didn't find anything out of the ordinary, so he opened the door.

 As he was about to step outside, his eyes were drawn to the concrete pathway. A flower, right in the middle of it. Allie smiled and picked up the kowhai. She smelled it, then the warm feeling faded in suspicion.

 She turned around and saw Dean's face as puzzled as hers.

 "Is that a flower?" He asked.

 "Did you ask someone to deliver it?" She replied.

 "Uh, no, if I gave you a flower, it'd be a sunflower because I know it's your favorite," he leaned on the door frame with a grin. "Maybe this one fell out of a tree."

 Allie peaked inside and saw the boys scratching Egg's belly. She sauntered toward her husband and spoke in a soft voice.

 "I've found this flower outside my door every day since what happened between us. I thought you were trying to send me a message, but if it's not you, then who is it?"

 Dean straightened his back. Someone had been sending flowers to his wife and he did not appreciate the gesture of love.

 "Allie, I understand you don't want to be in house right now, but I think you should, at least, hire security."

 "Dean, you know I hate—" Allie sighed.

 "Do it for the kids. You won't even have to call them. I'll hire the best for Andrew and Daniel."

 She stared at the flower for a few seconds before she spoke again.

 "Okay, but not when we're inside the apartment and they have to be discrete."

 "Perfect. I will call them today." He rested his elbow on his palm and rubbed his chin. "Do you think that psycho from the rotting complex is doing this?"

 "I don't think so," she said with confidence. "These are really expensive. They only grow in New Zealand. That's why I thought it was you. When you talked about it, I just made the connection." 

 "Do you remember telling someone else about this? New Zealand?"

 "Well, I mean, maybe, I think..." The girl let her gaze wander into the center button of Dean's shirt. She began coughing again and dropped the flower. "Grayson."

***

Agent Nielsen took notes on a small pad while Allie explained how she came to find the flower. Another officer opened a plastic bag and asked her to place the flower inside for forensic analysis.

"I called Meryl before I called you, but she hasn't been picking up her phone," Dean addressed the detective.

"I'll take care of it," replied Nielsen.

Allie coughed for the hundredth time and ran into the bathroom embarrassed.

The detectives watched her shut the door and Nielsen continued talking.

"Mr. Freeman, I don't mean to upset your wife, but we have some information about Grayson Clarke. He is not in prison. He was released two years ago on good behavior."

"So there is a possibility that it could be him sending Allie a message," replied Dean.

"We're not sure, but I'll call you as soon as I have more information." Nielsen put his notepad back into his pocket. He walked toward the door and turned around. "Oh, one last question. When was the last time you communicated with my partner in person?"

"Meryl? She came to my house more than a week ago." Dean rubbed his head. "I kind of kicked her out."

"Why?" Nielsen was expressionless.

"Well, as you know, I've known her for many years, so she took her acting way too seriously. It annoyed the crap out of me."

"She does take her job seriously." Nielsen gave Dean a handshake and jerked his head at the other officers. They exited the apartment.

Allie walked out of the bathroom, holding onto her mouth. Her cheeks had developed red specks from all the coughing. Her ears kept ringing.

"I'll go get the kids by the pool. Then we're going to the doctor," Dean lifted a key chain from a small hook behind the door.

"I'm. Not. Gonna say no. I Feel. Like shit." The woman could barely breathe.

***

Allie listened to a woman in a lab coat as she told her the results of her analysis read bronchitis. The woman typed the details on her laptop, gave Allie and Dean a handshake, and left with the hospital discharge papers.

 Dean rubbed his face and hid it under his hands. He slapped his knees and stood up.

 "Allie, I'm never going to forgive myself for this."

 "Dean, there's no point." Allie undid the knot on her hospital gown.

 "If it wasn't for me, you wouldn't have moved into that stinking gross apartment."

 "You heard the doctor, I'm not dying. All I have to do is take antibiotics for a week and I'll be normal again."

 "You probably hate me even more," he paced around the room.

 "I just wanna be okay." She slid the gown off her arms and opened a beige bag.

 Dean took a glance at her skin and almost tripped over his own feet. His jaw dropped and his eyes fixated on her breasts like a teenager seeing a naked lady for the first time.

 She shoved her hand into the bag looking for her bra until she noticed the silence.

 "Oh, I didn't think you'd mind since we're kind of married."

 "I don't," he juddered his head, speaking at her cantaloupes. "It was unexpected, but yeah, I don't mind. I mean, they're...they're beautiful...you're beautiful."

 Allie focused on finding the rest of her clothes. That was the first time in years she felt awkward in front of her husband. He had complimented her figure in multiple occasions, but the circumstances made his words sound as if they were coming from a stranger —a handsome stranger.

 She pressed her lips together, avoiding a horny smirk. The last thing she wanted was to let him know she took pleasure in his dumb expression. She turned around and let him enjoy her rear end while she slowly pulled up her leggings.

 However, he forced his gaze away and pretended to brush a stain out of his shirt. His brain began to fire up images of beautiful intimate moments with her. Then, he remembered it wasn't s*x what he craved the most from their relationship.

 "Okay, I'm ready." She hung the bag over her shoulder and approached the door.

 He looked up and scurried to hold her arm. 

"Allie, wait. There's something I have to ask you."

 "Yeah?"

 His lips became dry all of a sudden. He took a deep breath.

 "Would you go on a date with me?"

 Allie's arms went numb. He wanted a date when she had just moved out of their house; after everything he had done to her. Maybe her boobs had clouded his mind.

 "I'm not going on a date just so that you can get some."

 He placed his hand on the door and turned his body to fully face her.

 "I realize my timing is terrible, but my intention is to start all over again. Recognizing that I betrayed your trust and broke your heart is not enough. I need to show you that I am the same guy who jammed a washing machine on purpose to get your attention; the one who built a garden to see you smile. But I can't do that if you don't give me a chance."

 The girl fixed her purse on her shoulder and broke eye contact to clear her throat.

 "I could give it a try."

 "That'd be amazing. Thank you," he exhaled.

 She broke eye contact again, remembering not to smile and avoid excitement. It was too soon to start hoping for anything good between them.

***

It had been four days since Allie and her children started doing their daily activities accompanied by security. It was her understanding that after having bodyguards, she was going to feel restrained and lose her privacy. Luckly for her, she had been having a pleasant week.

 The two strong looking gentlemen wore inconspicuous attire and kept a reasonable distance. They didn't speak unless she asked a question, although greeted her every morning. The only time they weren't around her was when she and her children were inside her apartment.

 She found most useful about bodyguards when they held her bags after a shopping spree, which she had been doing often these days. Other than taking the kids places and doing housework, she had not much going on. Sick leave from work was like death by a thousand cuts and shopping was getting boring. Therefore, despite the rain, she still made Lolek and Bolek take her to the supermarket to buy ingredients for a new recipe.

 More than making sure she got the right items, she strolled down the isles to pass the time. She stopped in front of a wall of spices and spotted her bodyguards at the end of it. Their fishing shirts and their firm posture made them look like twins, but according to them, they weren't related.

 Allie chuckled. The marjoram bottle was the same shape as Lolek's head. Her hand aimed for it, but a swift movement caught her attention. On the other end of the isle, she could've sworn she had seen someone watch her. There was only an old woman with her basket.

 As she picked up the spices, her bladder began to disagree about her shopping speed. She walked closer to her bodyguards and handed them her basket.

 "Restroom," she lifted one eyebrow.

 Lolek nodded at Bolek and they walked behind her until she got to the store's restroom, where she entered alone.

 ***

While finding a bathroom stall, she enjoyed the quiet ambiance and fresh lavender scent. For being a public restroom, the sink and toilet were spotless although anything looked clean to someone living with two boys.

 As she flushed the toilet then placed her hands under the sink faucet, her phone vibrated with a message from Dean.

 Good morning, Sweetheart. I've been craving some brisket lately. Would you like to come to Rudy's with me tonight?

 Allie stared at her phone screen for more than a minute. She wondered if it was still too soon to accept his invitation. Every day since the hospital, Dean had been asking her places but she always made an excuse to not see him. It wasn't that she didn't want to see him; she was afraid to move forward.

 Her eyes scanned her own body up through the mirror over the sink. As she got to her face, she gasped at the figure behind her.

 "Did you really think you could escape?" Chris clenched her neck, bent one of her arms behind her back and dragged her into the stall. "That innocent face doesn't fool me. I don't care how the policy works. I want answers, now!"

 Allie could see the full shape of her eyeballs in the distant mirror. She took short breaths, thinking how to escape.